Four Mass Media Memorable Moments

This year marks 20 years since I started watching the NCAA college basketball tournament religiously. I got to thinking about the circumstances that led to that, which led to this post - four moments (not intentionally, all tragedies) that I'll remember forever. While I don't always remember "where I was when ..." I do think, on some level, each of these events changed my life forever. They're listed chronologically; not in order of importance (in truth, these four are so drastically different in terms of impact on the world, it would be inappropriate to "rank" them).

1. Thurman Munson Dies in Plane Crash (8/2/79)
I was 12 (just two days before I'd turn 13). Baseball was my favorite sport and Thurman Munson was my favorite player. I wasn't particularly good at baseball, and I hated playing catcher, but Munson did both, and I wanted to be like him desperately.

(I eventually became ~okay~ at baseball. I became a decent fielding second baseman, and I was quick, with a good batting eye; although my coaches later realized it wasn't so much a good batting eye, as much as sheer terror keeping the bat on my shoulder. I don't know that I ever actually *hit* a pitched baseball more than 10 times in my career).

The impact of Munson's death was probably the first step towards moving me away from baseball (and more towards basketball, I suppose). It was also the first experience I'd had with 'death' - even in such an abstract way. It may have been the first experience with tragedy I'd had. I do remember that I didn't find out on my own - my mother came and told me (which probably wasn't particularly easy for her, either).

2. Shuttle Challenger Explodes (1/28/86)


People don't necessarily remember how big of a deal this was at the time -- this flight featured one of the first civilians ever to fly on a shuttle - a teacher, Christa McAuliffe. The media promoted this experience heavily. And, although I was in school at the time, the news spread quickly that something had happened. I remember racing home to watch the TV report (today, of course, all the students would just whip out their web-enabled mobile phones).

What followed was one of the most horrifying sights I'd seen. As I was unfamiliar with the space program, etc., I did not even recognize the explosion for what it was (if you see the CNN video of the event, it's fairly clear the announcer there didn't either: a good 35-40 seconds go by before he says anything about an explosion -- he's still talking about the shuttle and the mechanics of the separation, even while the mission is effectively over).

Even today, nearly a quarter-century later, it's still chilling to watch.

3. Hank Gathers Dies (3/4/90)


This was different than the Thurman Munson tragedy, in that Gathers was young and died while ACTUALLY playing the game. Gathers played for Loyola-Marymount University, a program that had never achieved, well, *anything* prior to his arrival (and, hasn't achieved anything since).

I had watched parts of the NCAA tournament before - the earliest I remember was 1985, when Villanova shot the lights out, beating a heavily favored Georgetown team; and I watched the finals in 1986 (my first exposure to Duke - still my favorite team, even though they lost) and all the way up through 1989, when I was in college, and we had to reserve the TV lounge to watch the finals.

But, 1990 was different - Gathers (and Bo Kimble) were leading a program that had no real right to lay any claim to the NCAA tournament. They played a VERY uptempo game that seemingly was based on the concept of each team taking as many shots as possible in a game, and, hopefully, Loyola-Marymount would make more. And that worked (until they ran into the buzzsaw that was UNLV in the tournament - still one of the most exciting games I've ever seen).

Seeing Gathers collapse just seconds after a great dunk, was damned scary - and, for someone *in* college at the time, this was something that hit home hard. This was different than Len Bias, who died because he'd dabbled in cocaine; this was someone who died doing something he loved ... something *I* loved doing, as well!

And, Bo Kimble's tribute to his late friend (shooting free throws left-handed) still ranks as one of the most emotional additions to a sporting event. It's impossible to watch this without getting at least a little misty-eyed.

The net effect of this is very apparent in my life. That year, I watched the entire tournament - beginning to end, for the first time in my life. I have done the same thing every year - this year, marking the 20th anniversary.

4. September 11, 2001 (9/11/01)


For my generation, I think 9/11 is the "where were you when ..." moment. It's still a sickening memory, and yet, one I remember vividly.

I was home for the day -- my wife had needed me to go into NYC to handle some paperwork for her, and I was planning on going in later in the day. When we woke up, we turned on the TV (around 8:50am), and simultaneously bolted up from the bed into a 90 degree angle. The first scene we saw was the gaping hole in the side of the WTC.

Over the next few hours, I don't know that I moved my eyes from a TV -- over the next few days, I don't know that I slept. A host of emotions were flowing through me -- not the least of which was the recollection of the number of times I'd had breakfast meetings at Windows on the World, just one year prior (probably around 6-7 times, in total).

I had several friends in NYC - some walked out of the city, over the Brooklyn Bridge. One had had an interview that morning at the WTC, but one day earlier, he learned he'd been accepted into the Fire Academy, so he canceled his interview. Ultimately, I was fortunate to only know 1-2 people that actually passed away: one, was someone I'd attended college with for two years, until he'd transferred out (Damian Meehan); the other, was someone that rode on the same train as I -- and, as we'd pull into Ronkonkoma, we'd both be standing by the door, and occasionally, we'd chat. I didnt even know his name ...


So, those are my four mass-media memorable moments. I'm inclined to think tragedies stick around longer in our consciousness than celebrations, etc. (so, while I remember the hubbub surrounding Princess Diana's wedding; I remember her passing more vividly).

What are some of your mass-media moments?